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Denied operation

Two-year-old Sophie Thomlinson was born prematurely and has a form of cerebral palsy which means she cannot use her legs.

An operation on her spinal cord would enable her to take her first steps – but health chiefs have decided that it is too expensive. Now her parents are trying to raise the £25,000 needed for her to have the surgery privately.

Sophie, from Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, was referred by local doctors to Leeds General Infirmary, which specialises in the selective dorsal rhizotomy procedure. But the hospital, part of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, was denied funding by NHS England – which does not routinely agree to pay for such operations.

Perversely, a 22-year-old aspiring glamour model was given breast enhancement surgery on the NHS last year at another Leeds hospital within the same NHS trust.